Sunday, June 19, 2016

Game of Thrones S6E9 Battle of the Bastards Recap/Review (Spoilers!): Satisfying

In a word the ninth episode, Battle of the Bastards, of
season six on Game of Thrones was satisfying. Totally and completely satisfying
with action and storytelling displayed. The two story arcs the episode focused on
provided everything an audience could want. We started in Meereen with Daenerys
and finished with Sansa in the North. Every part of the episode was well acted
and intense, with little or no downtime. The last few weeks of Game of Thrones
have been a little disappointing, but Battle of the Bastards made up for any
shortcomings in the previous episodes with the amount of payoffs provided.

Everyone was expecting the epic battle in the North from the
title of the episode, but I was equally excited to see Danny wreck the slavers
army with Drogon. I thought last week we would get to see all three dragons in
action, and I was not disappointed. The setup to the massacre by Daenerys was
perfect with Tyrion cautioning her about what her father had planned to do in
Kings Landing. This is also a great reminder about what lies underneath Kings
Landing still, and may point to what Cersei will do in the finale. It was a great
way for Tyrion to reign in Daenerys’ blood lust. He is paid to advise her, and
he gave her wise council and gained her a fleet of ships.

The pure joy of watching Drogon fly over the slavers head,
and Daenerys climb aboard to burn the fleet was pitch perfect. It is shock and
awe at its finest. One dragon would probably be enough to cause the lines of
the enemy to break, and she has three. We also got a flash of how terrifying a
screaming horde of Dothraki warriors can be when they charged the Sons of the
Harpy. It was perfect to show restraint, and not kill everyone. People will now
start spreading rumors of how awe inspiring and terrifying Daenerys is with her
Dragons. The one slaver they let live will tell everyone of the destruction the
dragons can wreck, and that Danny has a horde of Dothraki to complement them.

They also cleared up the ship problem with capturing the
fleet, and adding to it with the ones Theon and Yara brought to Meereen. If
there was one part of the episode that felt misplaced it was this scene between
the Greyjoy’s, Danny, and her council. It
just didn’t fit the rest of the tone of the episode. It was still a great
scene, and I liked how they played on the similarities between Yara and Danny.
They just could have saved the scene for the next episode and it wouldn’t have
felt out of place. I think having one more scene with Danny and her council
might have fit more with the tone of this episode. I still enjoyed the scene,
but it would have had more weight leading into the next season.

Everything in the North was spot on, and not one second was
wasted. Jon and Ramsey’s first parley was intense with Sansa adding a unique
element to the exchange. Her threat was not an empty one. Looking at the episode
now, it seems she was the puppeteer behind the entire battle. Her next scene
with Jon hinted at this. She warned him not to play into Ramsey’s hands. She
warned Jon not to fall for the trap, but he did, and she knew he would. That is
why she held back the information about the Vale. She knew Jon would want to
use them the same way he used his current forces, but she knew holding
something back would cause Ramsey to be overconfident and extend his forces.
She planned for Jon to become entangled and then to bring in the Vale to save
the day. She also knew Rickon was already dead, she knew Ramsey was just
waiting for the right moment to kill him. Sansa has now become one of my
favorite characters in the show on par with Danny, Jon, and Tyrion, because of
her actions in tonight’s episode.

The actual battle was fantastic, with the action being intense
and well shot up until the end. You never felt entirely certain if Jon was
going to make it out of the battle alive. We knew Melisandre would try and resurrect
him if he fell, but his survival was not a guaranteed. I also thought we would
lose Tormund a few times during the battle, but ended up making it out alive. The
only major loss was Rickon, and because he has never been a major character his
loss doesn’t seem very impactful. His
death was used in the perfect way, because we knew Jon would have to try and
save him, and set the battle off at a disadvantage. You still wanted Jon to
save him, but knew he wouldn’t make it.

The episode at least gave us a satisfying end (see there is
that word again) to Ramsey. He died with his dogs, and I can’t think of a more appropriate
way for him to go. He was no better than a rapid dog himself, and he got taken
out by his own pack. He almost seemed to
enjoy getting beat up by Jon, but in the end he was terrified, and the smirk
Sansa gave while walking away proves how much the prissy girl from Winterfell
has grown in six season of the show.

There are so many great scenes in this episode, but a few
more are worth mentioning. Wun Wun and the way he tore through the entire
Bolton army was fantastic. The one time he ripped a man in half was just
perfect for the scene. The ending at Winterfell and the Bolton banners coming
down and the Stark banners going up gave me chills. Yes silly television show,
but it was just a great feeling seeing them fly in the fictional castle again.

I don’t know if this is the best episode of Game of Thrones
ever, but it has to be the most satisfying. We didn’t lose anyone we are
invested in, and we saw parts of two storylines reach epic conclusions. We know
were Daenerys is going from here, but the question is what does the North do
with Sansa sitting on the throne of Winterfell?
Do they rally to her, or do we see a civil war in the North as other houses
try and seize power? With only two seasons left, I’m guessing they will unite
and fight the white walkers together.

What did you think of tonight’s epic episode? Comment and
let me know.